Introducing Remus Lupin, a self-hating, half-blood werewolf who hasn't experienced human touch for six years; Sirius Black, a rebellious pureblood who doesn't know how it feels to be loved; Peter Pettigrew, an anxious halfblood with a dark past who...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
-o-o-o-o-
Sunday, 5th November 1972, 4:10 pm
Remus shifted his weight from one foot to the other and back again, wishing King would hurry and catch the Snitch already so he could return to the castle and sit down. James' first Quidditch match was, thankfully, going better than the last one he'd attended. He wasn't afraid of touching the people around him this time, although he still wasn't overly keen on the density of the crowd. And the match being held almost exactly at the midpoint between two moons meant he was at his least sensitive and he could concentrate on supporting James, blocking out the noise and smells around him.
James himself was doing fantastically. Remus had known he would. Unlike him, James was born to fly, controlling the broom as if it were an extension of his own body. He worked seamlessly with his fellow Chasers, and it was only because Remus was concentrating more on James than the game as a whole that he noticed the hand signals they were using to communicate with each other. Thanks to their efforts, Gryffindor was leading the match 290 points to Slytherin's 150. If they could score two more times, and keep Slytherin from doing so, it wouldn't even matter if Slytherin's Seeker caught the Snitch, Gryffindor would still win the first game of the season.
At this point, though, Remus was close to not even caring anymore. The game had begun at nine o'clock that morning. They'd paused for lunch, the whole school traipsing back to the castle to eat before returning to the pitch, the players refreshed after the break. The Chasers ducked and weaved, tossing the Quaffle back and forth with speed and agility. Keeping them on their toes, the Beaters pounded the Bludgers with force enough to break bones if their targets didn't dodge in time. And high above the action, the Seekers circled, as they'd been doing all day, neither of them seeming to catch any sight of the Snitch. As the sky began to darken, Remus was starting to think it had somehow escaped the confines of the pitch and flown off, never to be seen again.
Wonder how long they would let the game continue before giving up if that were the case.
Just as he thought that, King and the Slytherin Seeker—the announcer was calling her Vanity—both swept into a dive. Remus followed their trajectory with his eyes and spotted a glint of gold near the foot of the Hufflepuff stands.
The crowd surrounding him roared with deafening cheers, and Remus glanced back up to see James executing a triumphant somersault.
'As the Seekers dive after the Snitch, neck and neck, Potter scores another goal for Gryffindor!' the announcer screamed. 'Gryffindor now lead by 150 points!'
Sirius grabbed Remus' wrist with one hand, squeezing painfully. 'This is insane! If we score one more goal, it won't even matter if Slytherin catches it!'
'James is going for it!' Peter said. 'Look!'
Remus' gaze was darting between the Seekers, who were in hot pursuit of the Snitch, and the Chasers who had begun a new play, Gryffindor currently in possession of the Quaffle. Despite his general dislike of the game, he found his excitement building.
